What More Do We Want To Know About Common Meals?

“If we agree that in cohousing a well-functioning common-meal system is fundamental to a strong sense of community, how can we help new communities create an effective common-meal system as they plan their life together in their future home? How can an established community modify its common-meal system, should it start to unravel?”
This is the question that led us in 2001 to survey 19 of the 55 cohousing communities then built about how their common-meal systems were structured, and about how satisfied they felt with their current arrangements. We concluded that the highest levels of satisfaction were found in communities where, for example:

• Meals were regularly scheduled on the same nights each week.
• A minimum of two (non-potluck) meals were enjoyed every week.
• Every adult resident participated in the preparation and cleanup of common meals on a rotating basis.
• The same team that planned and prepared each meal was responsible for cleaning up after that meal.

More than 100 cohousing communities are now established in North America, and Coho/US plans to survey us once again to see if the earlier conclusions still hold, and more importantly, to widen our inquiry into areas only lightly touched on or not asked about in the previous survey.
In addition to updating the information we collected previously, we have ideas about some other issues we wish to explore this time:

• How are common meals managed financially?
• How do we deal with the common-meal needs and desires of children and their parents?
• How are special food needs handled?
• Is a common meal code of etiquette emerging from our collective experiences?
• How do the physical characteristics of the dining rooms and kitchen contribute to or hinder successful common meals?
• To what extent is a principle of fairness achieved by balancing the satisfaction and pleasure of eating common meals with the work required to prepare and serve them?

In addition, we are eager to include in this survey items that are of interest to you, so please forward those suggestions to joani [at] cohousing [dot] org.